City Paper covers a few gay topics; my own letter to the editor

The City Paper has a nice, in-depth profile of Court of Common Please candidate Hugh McGough. Hugh is the first openly gay man to run a judicial race, but the article proposes a myriad of other reasons to support him based on experience and qualifications. Marty Levine, who is not one for gushing, describes him as Obama-like which is pretty high praise.

Levine quotes a few folks from the Steel City Stonewall Democrats who endorsed McGough. The only thing missing from the article is a quote from a LGBTQ person who is not affiliated with an organization, perhaps even one of the moderate income voters with whom he is resonating. Or someone who is both. If people most whammied by the recession are paying attention to a judicial race, that would say something to me.

The CP also mentions the Steel City endorsement in the main piece about the Mayoral race.

The conventional wisdom is that Ravenstahl is unbeatable this year. He has a massive fundraising advantage, having started the year with nearly $1 million in the bank. He also has endorsements from the Democratic Party and other heavy-hitters. Even the Fraternal Order of Police — who backed Ravenstahl's Republican opponent in 2007 — is supporting him.

Carmen Robinson, by contrast, has been endorsed by the political arm of the National Organization for Women's Pennsylvania chapter. Dowd, meanwhile, has been endorsed by the Steel City Stonewall Democrats — which advocates for issues of concern to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender voters. He's also got the support of Braddock mayor John Fetterman, whose cachet extends beyond his own municipal boundaries (see “The Contenders.”). Other than that, though, the “endorsements” page on Dowd's Web site simply features regular citizens explaining why they're voting for him.

My only quibble is that the Stonewallians advocate for issues of concers to all persons in the LGBTQ community, not just voters. In fact, they work pretty darn hard to convert the non-believers into active participants in the political process through voter registration and advocacy work. The ACDC, on the other hand, has pretty much been AWOL in our lives here in Manchester — I don't even see them at the polls. Ah well …

Granting that the City Paper is pretty sympathetic to the homosexual agenda, it is still worth noting that the Steel City endorsement warrants multiple mentions. It receives a mention in the article analyzing the District 4 City Council race in which Natalia Rudiak secured that nomination. The political tendrils circling those candidates is a little scary. In this piece, the Stonewall group is described as representing LGBT residents.

We need some consistency, Mr. Potter. 🙂

Demonstrating that I practice what I preach, I submitted a letter to the editor about County Chief Executive Dan Onorato's recent statement on the non-discrimination ordinance. I was public with my criticism on this issue so I felt an impulse to go public with my appreciation.